Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

[Ben J]

I put on some 10mm Wheel/hubcentric spacers I bought off ebay on my front wheels a little while ago, but didn't take the car for a drive until today (as I only just got my license back today ). I used proper extended bolts and they were properly torqued when I put the spacers on.

Less than 5 km's of driving today and bad things happened.

This is what's left of the spacer



Was very lucky I was only going slow and could pull over immediately when out of nowhere it got wobbly. Could have ended much worse.

Anyway just thought I'd share the photos. I certainly won't be cheaping out on spacers again, and wont be going with 10mm wheel centric either, they just don't work.

[Deadpool]

FSM, glad you're alright!

Thanks for the heads up.

[Diesel_vert]

That, ladies and gentlemen, is why any component not covered by some sort of regulation, tends not to be roadworthy.

Anyone can make spacers and sell them - so whilst the results are disturbing, they're not surprising.

But the main thing is, you're not dead.

Anyway just thought I'd share the photos. I certainly won't be cheaping out on spacers again, and wont be going with 10mm wheel centric either, they just don't work.

Yeah, best not to cheap out on anything related to wheels or tyres.

They're the only things keeping your 1.5 tonne machine on the road which, rather worryingly, few people tend to appreciate.

[kapowww]

Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

I thought that 10mm wheel and hub centric spacers wouldn't fit in the first place as the hub protrudes more than 10mm? Maybe just some models..

[Ben J]

Re: Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

On the mk3 they supposedly can work up front, the description said they were to suit this exact model and I know the good brands make some that work. After having a good look at them I have a theory on how they broke, but I don't feel like typing it up on this phone.

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[gareth_oau]

ask ebay/paypal if they will assist in getting you a deserved refund?

[Stan]

+1 on the refund.

were they new?

[kaanage]

That, ladies and gentlemen, is why any component not covered by some sort of regulation, tends not to be roadworthy.

Anyone can make spacers and sell them - so whilst the results are disturbing, they're not surprising.

Which needs to be automatically stated whenever someone comes up with the "Why are spacers illegal for aftermarket when Porsche use them on some of their models?" question.

In fact this thread should be linked in all those cases.

I thought that 10mm wheel and hub centric spacers wouldn't fit in the first place as the hub protrudes more than 10mm? Maybe just some models..

Hubcentric means that the hole in the middle of the spacer itself is sized so that it is located (ie centered) by the hub. You can get other spacers that have a massive center hole and are solely located by the wheel bolts or studs.

[Ben J]

Re: Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

I sent the seller a message with photos asking for a refund, we'll see what happens I guess. I bought them a few months ago and only just used them, so don't like my chances of eBay or PayPal helping, but I'll give it a try for sure. It damaged one of my wheels and possibly the hub (I haven't looked yet, but I have a feeling it may have a stripped thread on one of the bolt holes now) so a refund does seem fair.

Yeah they were brand new

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[Ben J]

Re: Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

Which needs to be automatically stated whenever someone comes up with the "Why are spacers illegal for aftermarket when Porsche use them on some of their models?" question.

In fact this thread should be linked in all those cases.

This is true. From now on I'll only buy spacers which are approved by the different overseas authorities.

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[wai]

To tell you the truth, this is the best reason why to stay away from spacers period.

Just because they are expensive does not mean they are better quality.

Place a little more value on your life and the lives of others on the road. I would hate to imagine what could have happened had the vehicle being travelling at motorway speeds.

If you want to increase the track, then get wheels that have a suitable offset to give you that wider track.

Please don't use spacers; no matter who makes them or how much they cost.

[Ben J]

Re: Beware of cheap ebay spacers.

I understand what your saying, and even though this has happened to me and was a bit of a wake up call, I'm still going to run spacers, just good brand ones. If spacers are tested and approved by dot or whatever in the states and are perfectly safe and legal to run over there, I can't see why they wouldn't be safe over here. While it's easy to say just buy wheels that fit, it isn't that simple for a poor uni student like myself to buy wheels made to my exact specifications, so I will just make what i do have work. If that means spacers than so be it.

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[dylan8]

As I said on facebook. spacers around that 10mm size are just not great in general.
10mm spacers that are just hub centric and NOT wheel centric dont usually provide enough seating for the wheel.
10mm spacers that are both hub centric and wheel centric dont tend to have enough meat to support the wheel on on the spacers wheel centric side. as clearly visible in the pic, its only a few mm thick.
Its the same for spacers a few mm either side of this, and there is actually

Even on my 15mm adapters that are 57.1 hub side and 57.1 wheel side there isnt a whole heap of material to do that transition, so i can under stand why that fails, but yours is fairly brutal!

good to see your ok though.

[Ben J]

Yeah as I also said on facebook, now I've physically seen the spacers I couldn't agree more. The 10mm ones are an awful idea. The metal ring which made the wheelcentric bit is barely 1mm thick, no wonder it broke.

I think what caused the spacer to break is that the cut out to make it hub centric wasn't quite deep enough. In person (and in the pictures a little if you look at the cracks) you can see where the hub has digged into the spacer due to them not being right. This would have meant that the spacer wouldn't have sat flush on the break disc. I think that over time (I put the spacers on about a month ago, and only drove it today) with the torque of the bolts, the spacers actually bent a bit, reducing the pressure on the wheel bolts, effectively untightening them. This would also have stressed the spacer in ways it wasn't meant to be, making weak spots where it bent. After a little driving the spacer may have broken and some of the bolts came out. I don't know what order this came in, maybe a bolt came out and then the spacer broke and other bolts fell out? Your guess is as good as mine. When I pulled over the wheel was only held on by two bolts, which were bent as ****. Basically I think it happened because the design of the spacer (which specifically said it would work on my model or car) was a couple mm off what would have actually worked.

[Tim]

They would have snapped because the bolt tension on a spacer that isnt flush was causing the material to bend. Heat treated ali like that doesnt like to bend so it cracks instead.
As soon as it cracked you would have lost tension on the bolts as the bending was all that was holding them in.

Its all been said a million times every time someone has a problem but spacers are only dangerous when not used correctly. But then you could say that about any work you do on a car.